I am exhausted. But for totally awesome reasons. I went to not one, but two parties today. The Browns had a catch-all celebration party for a year in their house, Scott's graduation, and Scott turning 40 that I stopped by at, and then one of my kids at work's family was having some sort of big party that I'm not completely sure of they why, but it involved tons of children, and craw fish. Which by the way, were still alive when dropped into the boiling water to cook. The kids were making pets of them, and then gave them over to be cooked for dinner. I think this was the first time I've ever seen people kill their food while cooking it, immediately prior to eating it. I've never seen someone cook lobster, obviously.

And I'm baby-sitting Monday night. This is proving to be a fairly profitable weekend.

So can I just say that I had forgotten how much I love "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit" by Jeanette Winterson. I had read it in high school when it got slipped into my pile of library books, but with a completely different lens than reading it now. Then I was a kind of screwed up high school student who washed her car every time it got tagged with insults, replaced the window when it got broken into, and managed to survive both physical and emotional violence because of being gay, and didn't sleep much. Now I've grown up, my life is not such a battle as it was then, or as I thought it was then, even in retrospect it's hard to see where the line between reality and perception is, and I am now much more sure of my religious beliefs than I was then, and have actually listened to, and not just heard, the stories of those who were before me, and those who had to fight the battles alone. I had many advantages Jeanette (the character) didn't have, and when I read the book in high school I didn't really think about it, but now I am thinking about it, and the one battle I didn't have to fight, that I don't think I can ever understand how difficult it would have been, was religion. I grew up in a church that accepts me for who I am, not who they think I should be. I know this has had a huge impact on my life, that my God will always be there, even when other people won't. I have lost enough friends for being a lesbian, so I can feel Jeanette there, and my family is also kind of crazy, in a different way than her mother, but nonetheless crazy.

Back on topic, I think I am going to write my research paper using post-colonialism and general feminism (Adrienne Rich, Bonnie Zimmerman) to say that the Jeanette's coming out, so to speak, and the reaction she has to how the church feels about her is a symptom of post-colonialism, with the church she was raised in being the colonizer.

I start classes again tomorrow. I'm not sure how this is going to go, as for a week and a half of my six and a half week class my family will be visiting. And we all know that I love my family, I really do, but in small doses it works better for everyone. At least I'll still have my job. Which should keep me sane while they're here. An interesting couple of weeks have passed...well, now that I think about it, just one week has passed since my last entry...but here are some highlighting quotes:

"Wow, you pack that SUV really well"
"Thanks..."
"It must be your lesbian superpower"
"What?"
"So you don't need a u-haul"

"There are many things I don't need to know about my kids' parents. Like the color of their underwear. Or that they changed from pink to blue at some point between dropping their kid off at school and picking her up."
"Wow. That's crazy."
"I know. I was there."

"Well, we all knew before he did. What did you say when he told you?"
"Mmhmm, and?"

"That's not my car. It's obviously not a dykemobile."
"I don't think I could get away with saying that."
"Probably not."

"Why would anyone want to go on a hundred-mile bike ride?"
"Well, I'm going next month, I just didn't want to go tomorrow."
"I go back to, but why?"

"She was dressed like a little lesbian."
"Why do you say that?"
"I have several versions of the same outfit."

What a week it was!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. Even and maybe especially the not-real mothers. And my non-related moms and grandmothers.

Happy Mother's Day to Grandmother Rue.
Happy Mother's Day to Mother Robin.
Happy Mother's Day to Jan Kireilis.
Happy Mother's Day to Vicki Evans.
Happy Mother's Day to Rabbi Elise.
Happy Mother's Day to Melissa Wafer-Cross.

One day I'll be one too.

So apparently putting boys' hair into y
mmmg ughtgunbhjnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg ''''''''''jjjjjjjjjjjjjj//////////////////////////;'//////////////////////ui

The above interruption was added by a cute little 14 month old boy in the coffee shop.

As I was saying:
So apparently putting boys' hair into pigtails is great for finding out their mother's opinions on all sorts of things. Ian's mother when he had on flowered pants and pigtails in his hair first didn't recognize him, and then told him he would make such a pretty girl. Patrick's mother today when he went home in pigtails after I explained why he had them in his hair just looked at him, and said she was secure with that. Which is odd phrasing, but is no way a negative comment. She also minored in Women's studies when she was in college, so....

Putting girls' hair into pigtails is an instant path to popularity.

Good times at work. I love kids, and that's why I do this.

I'm not going to continue on this single forever path. Changing this does conflict greatly with other things I want from life. However, it's a conflict I've decided upon. I don't want to continue down this path of nothingness waiting until I'm old enough to get where I'm going. I'm happy single, but I don't feel called to celibacy. And one night stands aren't really my thing.

I miss performing music. I really need to get back into playing. Especially so that my piano playing isn't so mediocre the next time I play for Lumen. Which I'm sure will happen again. I need to buy a guitar. *Adds to to-do list*

I also should look into getting internet at home.

This summer should be interesting, if not impossibly boring. I really am not a fan of the fact that most of my school friends are leaving for the summer, if not for good.

July should prove to be lots of fun. General Convention, Indigo Girls, a four day weekend. What could be better?